About Us

The mission of Hospitality House is to minimize deprivation in our community by providing food and assistance to those in need, while maintaining the utmost respect for the dignity of the individual. Hospitality House works to fulfill this mission by operating a food pantry and providing referral services. In addition, Hospitality House also provides advice and aid to pantries in other cities as they work to fight hunger in the greater southeastern Michigan community.

History

Hospitality House opened its doors February 14, 2002 in space provided by the Walled Lake First Baptist Church. During its first year of operation, Hospitality House assisted approximately 200 families. In less than two years the pantry outgrew the space provided and moved to a temporary location in the Walled Lake Church of Christ. Soon it was decided Hospitality House needed a more permanent home that, resulted in the rental of 1800 square feet of office/warehouse space. In late 2007, the lease was expanded to 3600 square feet.

Initially services were limited to shelf stable boxed and canned foods, but with a permanent home and more space came a walk-in freezer donated by the former Food Bank of Oakland County, a walk-in cooler donated by Lil Nel’s Pet Salon and donations of several household refrigerators and freezers which enabled expansion into nutritious fresh and frozen foods.

In November of 2015 Hospitality House moved to its new facility located at 2075 E. West Maple Rd Suite B204, in Commerce Township. The new facility is approximately 8000 sq. feet and allows the pantry to service even more. As a result in January 2016 Hospitality House opened its doors to include the Novi school district and all residents who have a 48393 zip code. In 2017 Hospitality House expanded again lifting its residency restrictions where it now distributes over 35,000 pounds of food to approximately 450 households every month!

Distribution

Food distributed by Hospitality House is donated by a variety of sources including grocers, businesses, schools, religious organizations and individuals as well as from purchases of food available through Gleaners Community Food Bank of Southeastern Michigan where Hospitality House is a member agency.

A Note On Terms

Hospitality House is a food pantry, while Gleaners is a food bank. Both types of organizations are necessary in order to distribute food to those in need. To better understand the relationship imagine Gleaners as a warehouse that provides food secured in various ways-purchases or donations-at a reasonable cost to many local grocery stores {pantries or soup kitchens} which provide the food directly to needy families. Food banks such as Gleaners do not distribute food directly to families.